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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22765525">The Great Outdoors</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/iactuallyhatethis/pseuds/iactuallyhatethis'>iactuallyhatethis</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Camping, F/M, Romance, Stargazing, proposal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 12:26:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,422</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22765525</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/iactuallyhatethis/pseuds/iactuallyhatethis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Whoever decided that spending a night in a hollowed-out, rust bucket in the middle of the desert must have been demented. My boyfriend was one of those idiots. Jake was sweet enough to surprise me with a weekend getaway to Arizona. Sure, I like the outdoors, but this is not what I had in mind. </p><p> </p><p>It's just a sweet little short story about two people in love trying to make the best out of a weekend disaster.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Scarlett/Jake</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Great Outdoors</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Whoever decided that spending a night in a hollowed-out, rust bucket in the middle of the desert must have been demented. My boyfriend was one of those idiots. Jake was sweet enough to surprise me with a weekend getaway to Arizona. Sure, I like the outdoors, but this is not what I had in mind.<br/>
The car drive from San Francisco was long, and I was itching to get out and stretch my legs. When Jake pulled up to our “hotel”, we were greeted with a rusted, yellow school bus that was missing its roof. Jake looked over at me and smiled, “Do you want to go check us in?”<br/>
“You’re joking,” I deadpanned. I refused to believe that my boyfriend of two years, rented us a broken bus for our romantic getaway.</p><p>“Come on, Scarlett,” Jake’s eyes were lit up, “It’ll be fun.” I rub my eyes. Maybe the bus was a mirage and instead there was a nice Hilton in its place. I look up. Nope. The bus was still there. I look over at Jake. Excited is not the right word to describe him right now. I’ve never seen him so eager to do anything before. </p><p>Jake hopped out of our Jeep Rubicon and walked back towards the trunk. I reluctantly unbuckled my seatbelt to give him a hand with our bags. The rocky sand crunched under my sandals as I walked. The sun was harsh and beating down on us without mercy. </p><p>Jake had swung both of our backpacks over his shoulders and was grabbing a duffle bag with his free hand. “Will you grab the sleeping bags?” He was serious. We were going to sleep in that tetanus magnet. “Sure.” I grabbed the rolled-up sleeping bags and followed him to the bus.<br/>
“Is this the moment in our relationship that I find out you are secretly an axe murderer?”<br/>
“Ha ha,” sarcasm laced his voice.</p><p>We only parked a few feet away, but I could already feel myself sweating. The heat was dry and unrelenting. Jake and I set our bags down in front of the glass door of the bus. There was a thick layer of dust coating the glass. He pulled out a key from his back pocket and stuck it into the lock. It took a lot of jiggling and a few mumbled curses before the door folded open with a sudden creak. “Ladies first,” Jake offered. I smiled and rolled my eyes.</p><p>I climbed the few steps and looked around. It’s exactly what one would expect from a hollowed-out bus. It was filled with sand and had holes in the floor where the seats would have been. It was spacious enough and there were rugs hanging on the walls for either decoration or privacy. </p><p>Jake came up behind me, “What do you think?”<br/>
“I think that you got ripped off.” It was musty and the rugs seemed to trap the heat in.<br/>
Jake sidestepped me and tossed our bags into the corner where the driver's seat should have been. I took another look around. “Where’s the bathroom?” I didn’t want to know the answer. I really didn’t want to know.<br/>
“The guy who rented me the bus said there should be a bucket.”<br/>
I had to mentally pause for a second. I was expected to do my business in a bucket in the middle of a desert where there is basically zero privacy. “Nope, we need to leave. At least seedy motels have a functioning toilet.” I made to walk out of the door, but Jake grabbed my bicep. </p><p>“Could you just give it a try, Scarlett?” There was something in the tone of his voice that made me reconsider. He was trying. I pecked him on the lips, “Sure, but I’m not peeing in a bucket.”<br/>
Jake chuckled, “Fair enough.” I ran back out to bring our cooler inside. I grabbed the railing as I went up the steps again. That was the first mistake. The metal of the railing was blistering hot. I jerked my hand back and dropped the cooler.<br/>
“Are you okay?” Jake walked towards me.<br/>
“No,” my voice was an octave higher. I kicked the panel under the railing to avenge my burnt hand and my hurt ego. That was the second mistake. The panel fell out to reveal a huge spider web. I shrieked and jumped down the steps.<br/>
Jake followed me and was cautious to avoid the massive web. “I can fix that,” he sounded slightly panicked. “Do I really have to sleep in there?” I gestured to the bus. Who knew what kind of venomous arachnid was biding it’s time to bite us in our sleep.</p><p> “I know it looks bad, but be positive,” he said. “At least we know to wear bug spray tonight.”<br/>
“I actually hate you.”<br/>
“I love you too.”<br/>
“I’ll sleep in there after you dispose of spiderzilla over there.”</p><p>Jake laughed and mock saluted me. I rolled my eyes and sat in the car, with the air conditioning on blast until I knew it was safe to go back inside. The radio didn’t work out here. No matter what station I tried, I just got static. I tried my phone. No signal. I sighed, this was going to be a long weekend.<br/>
Jake came back out of the bus holding a stick as far away from himself. I hop out of the car. “That was in the bus?” I gasp. There was a huge spider dangling from the end of the stick.<br/>
“Yeah, he was just chilling in the web when I was cleaning it out,” Jake said, nonchalantly.<br/>
I mocked gagged. “Is it safe now?”<br/>
“Yup,” Jake answered, “we just need to lay out the sleeping bags.” And to avoid everything metal, I mentally supplied. </p><p>I, once again, entered the bus. This time I made sure to look for anything else that might kill me in my sleep. I deemed the coast clear for now. I unrolled Jake’s sleeping bag first. His was orange, mine was blue. I pushed them closer together. It’s going to be weird sleeping next to him with a barrier of nylon and polyester between us. I unpacked the extra pillows and placed them in the sleeping bags. The cooler was situated and accessible for late night snacking. I took the chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers from my backpack and walked outside.<br/>
The sun was finally starting to set and the temperature dropped slightly. I was thankful for a break from the heat. Jake was trying to start a campfire towards the back of the bus. I shivered from the sudden drop in temperature. I had goosebumps on my legs where my jean shorts didn’t cover. </p><p>“I am a fire master,” Jake joked. He managed to get a small fire going next to the bus. I tossed the marshmallows at him. “Are you ready for s’mores?” I unwrapped one of the chocolate bars we brought and took a bite.<br/>
“Only if you don’t eat the ingredients first.”<br/>
“Shut up,” I said, around a mouthful of chocolate.<br/>
I sat down next to him on the plaid blanket he had laid out. The sky was a deep shade of blue and the stars were slowly starting to poke out. I leaned my head on Jake’s shoulder. He snaked his arm around me and pulled me closer. </p><p>“I know I was being a little,” I paused as I thought for the word,” pessimistic, but I’m glad we did this.” Jake shifted a little. He opened his mouth to say something but then shut it again. He opted to just kiss me instead. I look up at him. The fire made shadows dance across his face and shade his blue eyes into a dark grey. </p><p>We roasted marshmallows until we couldn’t possibly eat any more. My fingers were sticky and Jake had chocolate on his face. “How did we manage to get this sticky?” Jake asked, rubbing the chocolate off his mouth, “I thought that after a certain age you just stopped being sloppy.”<br/>
“That’s only for responsible people,” I snorted. I sucked the last bit of marshmallow off my thumb. I stood up and brushed whatever sand that was on my butt off. The sky is completely dark now and there are millions of stars. </p><p>I reach my hands out towards Jake, “Let’s go lay down.” We leave the fire to burn out on its own and head into the bus. Maybe not having a roof wasn’t so bad. The night sky could be seen through the giant gap perfectly. </p><p>I got changed into some pajamas. I threw on an old t-shirt that I stole from Jake when we were in college. Jake and I met on campus and instantly hit it off. We were best friends for five years before he finally asked me out. It was weird at first, but I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.<br/>
We unzipped our separate sleeping bags and crawled in. He seemed quiet tonight. Jake was normally loud and obnoxious. I say that in the most affectionate way. “Look,” I say pointing up to the sky, “There’s Virgo.” The cluster of stars is as clear as day against the pitch black of the sky.<br/>
“Cool,” Jake replied, “What’s that one over there?” I shifted my view to follow his finger. There were stars in the shape of a diamond with a little star hanging off at the top of it. “That’s Libra,” I pointed out, “and that one over there is Leo.” Jake nodded his head along.<br/>
We laid there in silence staring at the stars for a while. There were so many. I took a deep breath of the smog free air. A shooting star hurled across the sky. It was only there for a split second. “Shooting star,” I smiled, “make a wish.”<br/>
“I wish you would marry me.”</p><p>I flip over on my side to face him. Jake was facing me with a box in his hand. I blinked a few times. “What?” I don’t think I heard him right.<br/>
“Will you marry me, Scarlett?”<br/>
I grabbed the flashlight from the bag next to my head. I switched it on. In the box, there was a silver band with two stones in it. Aquamarine and opal. Our birthstones. A million thoughts raced through my mind all at once. I couldn’t express them all at once.</p><p>I was silent for way too long. “Yes,” I breathed. “Yes!” He slipped the ring onto my left hand. He kissed me and I felt a tear slip down my cheek. “I love you so much,” Jake said against my lips. He leaned back and looked me in the eyes. “You are the most amazing person I ever met and I want to spend the rest of my-” a piercing howl interrupted him, “What was that?”<br/>
I looked up for a second before responding, “Coyote? It sounded kind of close,” I eye the rackety bus door suspiciously. How much protection would it provide us against a pack of hungry predators? </p><p>Jake’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts, “Just ignore it.” His tone reassured me enough to fall back into the moment. “You’re the best,” I smirked. “You know that right?” It was true though. Even before we were dating, he’s always been my rock. “Of course,” Jake said, smugly. I playfully shoved his shoulder and laughed. There was another howl in the distance, but I ignored it. All that mattered was being here with Jake. He grabbed my hand and held it tight, “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to say that.” </p><p>I leaned into him, my head resting on his chest. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you too,” I said, into the soft cotton of his t-shirt. Jake kissed the top of my head sweetly. There was more barking this time closer.<br/>
“Do you want to move this to the Jeep?” Jake started throwing our stuff in random bags. I nodded my head in agreement. Another howl sounded and this time it was followed by others. Oh Jesus, I thought to myself. Jake and I both had our backpacks on our shoulders. Our cooler would have to fend for itself. We crowded next to the door listening for any sign of the pack. </p><p>“Do you think they’re close?” I whisper. Jake just put a finger to his lips. We didn’t have to wait long before there was a chorus of barks. They were loud and way too close for my comfort. “I’m going to sound the car alarm and then we’re going to make a run for it,” Jake explained, “I think that’ll scare them away.” I nodded my head in agreement. I grabbed Jake’s left hand in a death grip. </p><p>Jake counted down with his fingers on his other hand. Once he put his pointer finger down, the car alarm blasted and we bolted. Jake yanked me along with him as we closed the short distance to the car. The Jeep was only a few feet away, but it felt like a mile. The alarm was so loud in juxtaposition to the dead silence of the desert. Jake jumped into the driver’s seat just as I slammed the passenger side door. Jake shut off the car alarm and started the car. </p><p>We sat there panting. My heart was racing. Jake started laughing. I couldn’t help but laugh with him. Soon, we were both wiping tears from our eyes from laughing so hard. “I can’t believe we were so scared,” Jake said at last.<br/>
“Are you kidding?” I answered, “I wouldn’t have risked sleeping in that bus without a roof and a broken door.” I glance down at my hands. I felt my chest swell at the sight of the ring. </p><p>We were silent for a few moments. I think we were both trying to wait out the adrenaline that was still pumping through our bloodstreams. Jake shifted out of his seat and leaned over the center counsel. “What are you doing?” I asked, turning on the light.<br/>
“I’m pushing the backseat down so we can sleep somewhere moderately comfortable.” Jake laid the back seat flat and climbed into the back. I waited until he was situated to follow him.<br/>
“I love you, Jake,” I whisper.<br/>
“Love you too, Scar.” </p><p>I smiled at the use of my nickname. I scooted closer to him and fell asleep with his arms wrapped around me.</p>
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